Search This Blog

A site dedicated to discussing a variety of action & martial arts film entertainment. The written and expressive work of the author(s) of Film Combat Syndicate is/are protected by Copyright Law. To send us scoops or share your inquiries, email us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com.

EXCLUSIVE: A filmmaker will go the extra mile to make a film happen, and with a concept that feels so good and workable that they're willing to risk more than enough. Finnish-Iranian actor and martial artist Ramin Sohrab certainly fits the mold with a career lasting up to a decade and wearing several hats throughout his career thusfar whilst primarily calibrating hismelf as Iran's answer to the likes of Jet Li or Donnie Yen.

Malek, his 2014 proof-of-concept action short was a terrific exhibition of his skillset following four years of slow development in Iran and preceded another four years of even slower progress. His 2017 concept proof, Viulu, proved equally stellar despite taking it to BiFan at Korea last year in hopes of stirring up some funding only to end up seeing those efforts fall short as well.

Thus, landing right back at square one and with eight years in and nothing to show for it, Sohrab decided to tweak his 2014 gig just enough to earn the appeal of censors in Iran. That leaves us with the latest incarnation of Malek now known as Layer Of Lies after recently selling his house and his car to get some funding going ahead of production.

Ultimately per Iran's standards, it also meant removing some of the more mature measures of Sohrab's vision, including scenes involving guns or any kind of blood and gore. No need to fret though, for Sohrab intends to make up for the lack of red stuff with some serious, hearty and fight heavy martial arts action.

An ex-fireman returns to his home country Iran after a decade-long absence, only to have his old enemy resurface and steal away what he treasures most - and now he'll stop at nothing to exact revenge.

Filming has already commenced in Sohrab's native Finland in Helsinki while the aspiring martial arts star officially acquired his permits on Wednesday with plans to shoot in Tehran beginning April 5. Sohrab will star and make his feature directing debut from his own script as written along with Hamid Kaviani, Joe Leone and Sami Laulajainen. The multi-faceted actor and director will also produce via his Sonram Productions Viulu cohorts Mohsen Sarafi serving as producer, and actress Sonja Farling over at Ramson & Co. joining in for the cast as well as executive producer with Laulajainen co-producing.

Currently, the goal is to finish up in Finland and finalize plans in preparaton for Iran in the next several months. Upon completion, Layer Of Lies could very well headline itself as Iran's first martial arts action picture which would hail Sohrab, the son of a martial arts master himself, as a trailblazer in his own right.

Both Malek and Viulu are already available online to check out and rest assured, you won't be left without your fill if you love a good deal of fists and kicks in your action flicks. Obviously the lack of blood and gore and firearms will get frowned upon by some in the Western world but you in the spirit of giving credit where it's due, you need only see the aforementioned short films to be convinced. He's playing the industry game with a dicey hand and very little room for failure, and yet given what Sohrab can provenly do in the course of gracing moviegoers and fans with another addition to the martial arts film genre, I'm pretty stoked.

Further casting, crew and production info remain pending with the hopeful addition of a few potential name actors to attach to the project. Things are fluctuating indeed, but forward moving nonetheless and the following exclusive photos courtesy of Sohrab from the Helsinki shoot are finally proof of that with the next major phase of production in the Middle East now forthcoming.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Right about now you're waiting news over any and all pertaining to Chad Stahelski's John Wick: Chapter Three which is still in production. This week, some of the best news to arise now sees word that Tiger Chen, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman have all joined the production starring opposite Keanu Reeves who returns to star.
A few photos have gone viral in recent weeks seeing Chen merely hinting a presence on set but this latest update is official. The three are said to play opposite Keanu Reeves according news over at The Hollywood Reporter with Chen back on set following a starring role in the 2014 kung fu spiritual drama, Man Of Tai Chi.
It's an update worth noting as it hopefully sets up for a larger Hollywood screen presence for all three martial arts stars who've seen their rise in all of the last nine years collectively, including that of Chen whose friendship dates back to production on The Matrix trilogy. Ruhian and Rahman have been earning their claim to…

Well this is spiffy. Who Taffy Edwards is remains a mystery while said individual sits in the directors chair for upcoming independent crime pic, English Dogs. The film is set to arrive sometime this year and has Time Rush actors Byron Gibson (Only God Forgives) and martial arts sensation, action actor Ron Smoorenberg (Asura) leading the cast.
Plot details are nil as things stand, save for what we can extrapolate from the official trailer that premiered on Wednesday in addition to the film's doughty tagline: "There are 340 breeds of Dogs on the Planet but there can only be one Alpha". And that's about all we got to work with along with what the trailer offers in its ambitious British gangster tropes with Thailand as the backdrop, and watching Gibson throwdown along with shots of Smoorenberg in his element on top of chewing some scenery as a crimeboss, which is always welcome.
Check out the trailer below!

The last few years have seen the wheels turn quite a bit for director Jesse Haaja who made history in debuting Finland's first comic book superhero movie, Rendel. Nowadays he's developing other properties including Furrow, but that doesn't necessarily count out prospects for a sequel while genre specialist Raven Banner has anything to say for it.
Such is what includes Jeremy Kay's Screen International report this weekend with word that sales on a sequel to the Finnish superhero hit film have launched at the Cannes market. Producers at Black Lion Pictures and Frozen Flame Pictures are planning an early 2019 shoot on Rendel 2 which has Haaja returning to the helm to follow up the story of a family man previously resurrected from near-death with a brutal, masked alterego to seek revenge in the name of a city crying out for justice against a criminal organization and their pharmaceutical cohorts. “I can’t even describe how excited I am for this,” Haaja said of the ongoing s…

Most Read Articles Of The Week

Right about now you're waiting news over any and all pertaining to Chad Stahelski's John Wick: Chapter Three which is still in production. This week, some of the best news to arise now sees word that Tiger Chen, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman have all joined the production starring opposite Keanu Reeves who returns to star.
A few photos have gone viral in recent weeks seeing Chen merely hinting a presence on set but this latest update is official. The three are said to play opposite Keanu Reeves according news over at The Hollywood Reporter with Chen back on set following a starring role in the 2014 kung fu spiritual drama, Man Of Tai Chi.
It's an update worth noting as it hopefully sets up for a larger Hollywood screen presence for all three martial arts stars who've seen their rise in all of the last nine years collectively, including that of Chen whose friendship dates back to production on The Matrix trilogy. Ruhian and Rahman have been earning their claim to…

Well this is spiffy. Who Taffy Edwards is remains a mystery while said individual sits in the directors chair for upcoming independent crime pic, English Dogs. The film is set to arrive sometime this year and has Time Rush actors Byron Gibson (Only God Forgives) and martial arts sensation, action actor Ron Smoorenberg (Asura) leading the cast.
Plot details are nil as things stand, save for what we can extrapolate from the official trailer that premiered on Wednesday in addition to the film's doughty tagline: "There are 340 breeds of Dogs on the Planet but there can only be one Alpha". And that's about all we got to work with along with what the trailer offers in its ambitious British gangster tropes with Thailand as the backdrop, and watching Gibson throwdown along with shots of Smoorenberg in his element on top of chewing some scenery as a crimeboss, which is always welcome.
Check out the trailer below!

The last few years have seen the wheels turn quite a bit for director Jesse Haaja who made history in debuting Finland's first comic book superhero movie, Rendel. Nowadays he's developing other properties including Furrow, but that doesn't necessarily count out prospects for a sequel while genre specialist Raven Banner has anything to say for it.
Such is what includes Jeremy Kay's Screen International report this weekend with word that sales on a sequel to the Finnish superhero hit film have launched at the Cannes market. Producers at Black Lion Pictures and Frozen Flame Pictures are planning an early 2019 shoot on Rendel 2 which has Haaja returning to the helm to follow up the story of a family man previously resurrected from near-death with a brutal, masked alterego to seek revenge in the name of a city crying out for justice against a criminal organization and their pharmaceutical cohorts. “I can’t even describe how excited I am for this,” Haaja said of the ongoing s…

An exasperating wait, no less, for folks like myself who live in the U.S.. Still, it's nice to know that a Blu-Ray/Digital HD release of the new tournament martial arts thriller, Boyka: Undisputed, is well on its way with an August release, while it's even nicer to know that the film's star, actor and martial artist Scott Adkins wants to do a fifth.
He says so at around the 11:40 mark in his latest interview now online following his recent appearance at MCM Expo in London this week to discuss the role and the film as a whole - And not for nothing either as he continues to pound away at fans who enjoy his movies, but insist on stealing them online which will otherwise kill any chance of the film happening before 2030 if we're lucky (my words, not his).
Adkins also shares several new images from his latest, Accident Man, and some gems on Michael Cuesta's American Assassin, working with Tony Jaa on the recently-wrapped ensemble action thriller, Triple Threat, and muc…

With weeks away before cameras roll for upcoming martial arts mobster comedy, Made In Chinatown, we can report that the production will pair director Art Camacho with producer Robert Samuels who will also share the helm as co-director. The news comes roughly one week since Camacho's arrival to the director's chair after replacing another filmmaker who was already attached as the film underwent several months of development.
Camacho and Samuels will direct from a script by executive producer and author Mark V. Wiley that centers on Vinny, a hapless Chinatown resident who, with the help of his sifu and a select few good friends, works to assimilate himself into Italian mob life and gain top-tier status whilst in pursuit of the girl of his dreams. The independent New York City-set action comedy production lands stuntman, world-class wushu stylist and champion Gold medalist, actor Alfred Hsing (Ready Player One, Ip Man 3, Birth Of The Dragon) his first major acting role.
Hungry …

I myself couldn't really get past some of the fan-service that culminates all seemingly ado with the current Kickboxer franchise following the reboot in 2016. I suppose the best part is that Dmitri Logothetis has found a direction to take it in, onward from Vengeance through Redemption and now with the third, Kickboxer: Armageddon. And indeed, that's Alain Moussi in the footage donning a whole new Kurt Sloan we haven't seen before. Brand new look and all!
Other details are officially pending but Logothetis himself has mentioned the possible return of Mike Tyson, Ronadinho and Christopher Lambert in addition to George St. Pierre and other UFC and sports favorites...and Snoop Dogg for some reason? He's also presented a brand new teaser to help stir the fandom some, so check it out anf expect more Kickboxer news onward through 2019.

The May 17, 2019 release of John Wick: Chapter Three pretty much has everyone engaged losing their collective skulls at the moment. Production is already underway and confirming previous rumors of late is actress Halle Berry asserting her place in the cast.
Thus, she'll be joining in with a lot for the film's returning cast members, in addition to a wave of new names totaling actors Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick all reprising their roles, and with actresses Asia Kate Dillon and Anjelica Huston, and actors Mark Dacascos and Jason Mantzoukas to the cast.
The production has released cast cards with the roles all respective to the performers listed for whom Chad Stahelski will direct for Lionsgate for the production's remaining duration. Check it all out below and stay tuned, because I'm ready for more surprises! JOHN WICK 3: PARABELLUM Cast

Events at Cannes have been a turning point for some film fans highly keen on all things ado with action star, Jean-Claude Van Damme. Having made a splash this year with buzz for the launch of his Rodin Entertainment sales banner and announcing another slate of film prospects, his latest offering now brings us a pulsating look at Braqueurs helmer Julien Leclerq's new thriller, Lukas, otherwise hailed in our territories as The Bouncer.Lukas, a nightclub bouncer in his fifties who's taken punches, literally and figuratively, struggles to raise his 8 year old daughter. One day, Lukas loses control during an altercation with a client and ends up in jail, while his daughter gets placed under the care of social services. But things take an unexpected turn when Interpol recruits Lukas to bring down a Dutch ringleader operating from Belgium in exchange for his daughter's custody.
The first official teaser and accommodation poster have both arrived and very befitting with one anoth…

About five years ago I managed to interview stuntwoman, actress and producer Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez. It was through her I managed to build a rapport with several other veterans and up-and-comers in the industry whilst getting an angle going on covering the stunt field and it was a privelege to be able to exchange with her than as it still is now from time to time.

She's a talented singer as well - a fact that I was reminded of clean and clear when last year, I managed to screen one of her most recent short film appearances, Pimpkillah, courtesy of filmmaker and comic book creator Sarah Bitely. I think it quite surprised Michelle and that was sort of the feeling I got when I commented on one of her posts at the time.

Alas, the shortfilm has since gone public, marking a significant milestone for the budding filmmaker and comic book creator who moved from her hometown on the outskirts of DC/Baltimore in Maryland to Los Angeles, California in 2010. Her coming out party has assuredly …

Saban Films has kept its own market waiting long enough it seems and thus, the official trailer went live for Pasha Patriki's latest, Black Water, hailing a fifth pairing for action star duo Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. The film is written by Chad Law with a story that centers on a deep cover operative who awakens, imprisoned in the confines of a CIA black site on a submarine and forced in a race against the clock to search for answers amidst a daring escape.Action-movie icons Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren deliver a double shot of adrenaline-fueled excitement in this heartpounding undersea thriller. After a failed mission, deep-cover operative Wheeler (Van Damme) is imprisoned in a CIA black site on a submarine. The CIA agents will to go to any lengths to get information from Wheeler—but nothing can prepare them for the storm of violence that erupts when he joins forces with a fellow prisoner (Lundgren) as deadly as he is mysterious. Black Water opens throu…